Voyageur
Cheesehead
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2021
- Messages
- 4,137
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In the Midwest, we went to grocery stores and larger meat markets to buy all our meat. Prices were pretty much competitive across the board. But we've found somethings a little different where we live now. Small chain meat markets where they have their own ranches, raise their cattle, have their own slaughterhouses, and supply their own stores. They do the same with pork and have tie ins with local chicken ranches to supply their chickens and eggs. The prices are phenomenal.
We're going to one of the markets tomorrow. T-bone steak, $4.99 a lb. It's not tough and rubbery, it's the stuff we'd pay close to $20 a pound for up north. We're also getting 80% ground beef for $2.29 a lb., and country style boneless pork ribs for $1.69 a lb. Extra-large eggs, $3.75 as dozen, and we're buying 3 cut up chickens, that are over 3.5# each for $1.49 a lb. According to one of the people who works at the market, they are going to have a sale on brisket at $1.99 a lb. in two weeks. Guess who's going to jump on about 20# of that stuff? Our freezer is going to be jam packed.
We also found a lady who makes seedless jams and preserves. We buy those because my wife has dentures. She makes strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, Valencia style marmalade, and real grape jam. Smuckers makes a seedless strawberry jam, and it sells for about $3.57 for an 18 oz jar, and we get a get a 32 oz jar of home made from her, for $4.00 and it's fresh, and does not have all the preservatives and additives. Her marmalade is so amazingly good that we haven't had better since we were eating the real thing when we were in Valencia Spain back in the 90s for two vacations. In fact, we brought a couple of homemade jars back with us from there and had been disappointed since they were gone until we met this woman.
It's amazing how different each environment is for shopping. Down here, a lot of the old shop mentality still exists, and it makes the cost of food more affordable because they eliminate all those people in the middle who need to rake off profits for being involved in the food chain process.
On the way over to pick up some meat, and stop and get a jar of blackberry jam, we're stopping at a little restaurant that serves the best darned coffee I've ever tasted along with the biscuits & gravy, a 1/2# slice of trimmed country ham, and three extra-large eggs, over easy. The price? $7.50. Even after 14 years being down here, we make new discoveries.
As an example, we found a connection where we can actually rent one of 8 different villas through a friend on South Padre Island for 4 weekdays at a time for $100 "cash" each week. All 4 face the Gulf of Mexico and you can walk from them, across the street, and you're dipping your feet in sand. We can get this deal about 30 weeks a year. Then there's the discount food deals for people who visit during those times. Awesome sea food.
Life can be good when you're out of the fast lane.
We're going to one of the markets tomorrow. T-bone steak, $4.99 a lb. It's not tough and rubbery, it's the stuff we'd pay close to $20 a pound for up north. We're also getting 80% ground beef for $2.29 a lb., and country style boneless pork ribs for $1.69 a lb. Extra-large eggs, $3.75 as dozen, and we're buying 3 cut up chickens, that are over 3.5# each for $1.49 a lb. According to one of the people who works at the market, they are going to have a sale on brisket at $1.99 a lb. in two weeks. Guess who's going to jump on about 20# of that stuff? Our freezer is going to be jam packed.
We also found a lady who makes seedless jams and preserves. We buy those because my wife has dentures. She makes strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, Valencia style marmalade, and real grape jam. Smuckers makes a seedless strawberry jam, and it sells for about $3.57 for an 18 oz jar, and we get a get a 32 oz jar of home made from her, for $4.00 and it's fresh, and does not have all the preservatives and additives. Her marmalade is so amazingly good that we haven't had better since we were eating the real thing when we were in Valencia Spain back in the 90s for two vacations. In fact, we brought a couple of homemade jars back with us from there and had been disappointed since they were gone until we met this woman.
It's amazing how different each environment is for shopping. Down here, a lot of the old shop mentality still exists, and it makes the cost of food more affordable because they eliminate all those people in the middle who need to rake off profits for being involved in the food chain process.
On the way over to pick up some meat, and stop and get a jar of blackberry jam, we're stopping at a little restaurant that serves the best darned coffee I've ever tasted along with the biscuits & gravy, a 1/2# slice of trimmed country ham, and three extra-large eggs, over easy. The price? $7.50. Even after 14 years being down here, we make new discoveries.
As an example, we found a connection where we can actually rent one of 8 different villas through a friend on South Padre Island for 4 weekdays at a time for $100 "cash" each week. All 4 face the Gulf of Mexico and you can walk from them, across the street, and you're dipping your feet in sand. We can get this deal about 30 weeks a year. Then there's the discount food deals for people who visit during those times. Awesome sea food.
Life can be good when you're out of the fast lane.
